Method of manufacturing a power semiconductor device having source region and body contact region formed between trench-type gate electrodes

ABSTRACT

A method for manufacturing a power semiconductor device includes forming a drift region in a substrate, forming a trench in the drift region, forming a gate insulating layer in the trench, depositing a conductive material on the substrate, forming a gate electrode in the trench, forming a body region in the substrate, forming a highly doped source region in the body region, forming an insulating layer that covers the gate electrode, etching the insulating layer to open the body region, implanting a dopant into a portion of the body region to form a highly doped body contact region, so that the highly doped source region and the highly doped body contact region are alternately formed in the body region; and forming a source electrode on the highly doped body contact region and the highly doped source region.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a division of application Ser. No. 15/790,484 filedon Oct. 23, 3017, which claims the benefit under 35 USC 119(a) of KoreanPatent Application No. 10-2017-0015664 filed on Feb. 3, 2017, in theKorean Intellectual Property Office, the entire disclosure of which isincorporated herein by reference for all purposes.

BACKGROUND 1. Field

The following description relates to a power semiconductor device. Thefollowing description also relates to a manufacturing method of such apower semiconductor device. Additionally, the following descriptionrelates, to a power semiconductor device including a source and a bodycontact region formed alternately. The following description alsorelates to a manufacturing method of such a power semiconductor device.

2. Description of Related Art

In a conventional trench Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-EffectTransistor (MOSFET), a method of forming a source metal by etching apart of a substrate is used for a contact forming method. Such a methodis referred to as contact recess etching. Such an approach is able tooperate the device stably, but has limitations in reducing the cellpitch for the device. Other methods of contact formation includeself-alignment, but such manufacturing methods are complex.

SUMMARY

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the DetailedDescription. This Summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended tobe used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subjectmatter.

In one general aspect, a method for manufacturing a power semiconductordevice includes forming a drift region of a first conductivity type in asubstrate, forming a trench in the drift region, forming a gateinsulating layer in the trench, depositing a conductive material on thesubstrate, forming a gate electrode in the trench, forming a body regionin the substrate, forming a highly doped source region of the firstconductivity type in the body region, forming an insulating layer thatcovers the gate electrode, etching the insulating layer to open the bodyregion, implanting a dopant of a second conductivity type into a portionof the body region to form a highly doped body contact region of thesecond conductivity type, so that the highly doped source region and thehighly doped body contact region are alternately formed in the bodyregion, and forming a source electrode on the highly doped body contactregion and the highly doped source region, wherein the forming of thehighly doped source region is performed to start from an upper surfaceof the substrate and to extend along a sidewall of the trench to overlapwith the gate electrode.

A top surface of the gate electrode may be located at a position higherthan half of a depth of the trench.

The highly doped source region may include a first portion adjacent tothe upper surface of the substrate and a second portion adjacent to thesidewall of the trench, and a depth of the second portion may be adeeper depth than a depth of the first portion with respect to the uppersurface of the substrate.

The depositing of the conductive material may include depositing theconductive material on the gate insulating layer and a portion of thesubstrate, and the method may further include forming a Zener diode inthe conductive material deposited on the portion of the substrate.

The forming of the Zener diode may include implanting secondconductivity type ions into the conductive material, forming a maskpattern on the conductive material, implanting first conductivity typeions into the conductive material through the mask pattern, and removingthe mask pattern

The method may further include forming a thick oxide layer on theportion of the substrate, wherein the depositing of the conductivematerial includes depositing the conductive material on the gateinsulating layer and the thick oxide layer, and the forming of the Zenerdiode may include forming the Zener diode in the conductive materialdeposited on the thick oxide layer.

The method may further include forming a gate pad connected to the gateelectrode, wherein the Zener diode is connected to the gate pad and thesource electrode.

The Zener diode may include a number of rings depending on a breakdownvoltage of the power semiconductor device.

The substrate may include a drain region and the drift region may be anepi-layer doped with a lower concentration than the drain region.

An area of the highly doped source region may be larger than an area ofthe highly doped body contact region.

In another general aspect, a power semiconductor device includes a driftregion formed in a substrate, a trench formed in the drift region, agate insulating layer and a gate electrode formed in the trench, aconductive material formed on the substrate, a body region formed in thesubstrate, a highly doped source region and a highly doped body contactregion formed alternately in the body region, an insulating layer formedon the gate electrode, and a source electrode formed on the substrate,wherein the highly doped source region starts from an upper surface ofthe substrate and extends along a sidewall of the trench to overlap withthe gate electrode.

The highly doped source region may include a first portion adjacent tothe upper surface of the substrate and a second portion adjacent to thesidewall of the trench, and a depth of the second portion may be adeeper depth than a depth of the first portion with respect to the uppersurface of the substrate.

The power semiconductor device may further include a Zener diode formedin the conductive material.

The power semiconductor device may further include a gate pad connectedto the gate electrode, wherein the Zener diode is connected to the gatepad and the source electrode.

The Zener diode may include a number of rings depending on a breakdownvoltage of the power semiconductor device.

An area of the highly doped source region may be larger than an area ofthe highly doped body contact region.

The substrate may include a drain region and the drift region may be anepi-layer doped with a lower concentration than the drain region.

Other features and aspects will be apparent from the following detaileddescription, the drawings, and the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a plan view of a power semiconductor device according to anexample.

FIG. 1B is an enlarged view of a portion of the active cell region ofthe power semiconductor device shown in the example of FIG. 1A.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a power semiconductor deviceaccording to an example taken along the line II-II′ in FIG. 1B.

FIG. 3 is a drawing illustrating a structure of an operation of a powersemiconductor device according to an example.

FIG. 4 is a drawing illustrating a method of manufacturing a powersemiconductor device according to an example.

FIGS. 5 to 8 are drawings illustrating the cross-sectional views of apower semiconductor device according to each process of the example ofFIG. 4 .

FIG. 9 is a drawing illustrating a structure of a Zener diode accordingto an example.

FIG. 10 is a drawing illustrating a method of manufacturing a Zenerdiode according to an example.

FIG. 11 is a circuit diagram of a power semiconductor device including aZener diode according to an example.

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view of a power semiconductor deviceincluding a Zener diode according to an example taken along the lineXII-XII′ in FIG. 1A.

Throughout the drawings and the detailed description, the same referencenumerals refer to the same elements. The drawings may not be to scale,and the relative size, proportions, and depiction of elements in thedrawings may be exaggerated for clarity, illustration, and convenience.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description is provided to assist the reader ingaining a comprehensive understanding of the methods, apparatuses,and/or systems described herein. However, various changes,modifications, and equivalents of the methods, apparatuses, and/orsystems described herein will be apparent after an understanding of thedisclosure of this application. For example, the sequences of operationsdescribed herein are merely examples, and are not limited to those setforth herein, but may be changed as will be apparent after anunderstanding of the disclosure of this application, with the exceptionof operations necessarily occurring in a certain order. Also,descriptions of features that are known in the art may be omitted forincreased clarity and conciseness.

The features described herein may be embodied in different forms, andare not to be construed as being limited to the examples describedherein. Rather, the examples described herein have been provided merelyto illustrate some of the many possible ways of implementing themethods, apparatuses, and/or systems described herein that will beapparent after an understanding of the disclosure of this application.

Throughout the specification, when an element, such as a layer, region,or substrate, is described as being “on,” “connected to,” or “coupledto” another element, it may be directly “on,” “connected to,” or“coupled to” the other element, or there may be one or more otherelements intervening therebetween. In contrast, when an element isdescribed as being “directly on,” “directly connected to,” or “directlycoupled to” another element, there can be no other elements interveningtherebetween.

As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any one and any combinationof any two or more of the associated listed items.

Although terms such as “first,” “second,” and “third” may be used hereinto describe various members, components, regions, layers, or sections,these members, components, regions, layers, or sections are not to belimited by these terms. Rather, these terms are only used to distinguishone member, component, region, layer, or section from another member,component, region, layer, or section. Thus, a first member, component,region, layer, or section referred to in examples described herein mayalso be referred to as a second member, component, region, layer, orsection without departing from the teachings of the examples.

Spatially relative terms such as “above,” “upper,” “below,” and “lower”may be used herein for ease of description to describe one element'srelationship to another element as shown in the figures. Such spatiallyrelative terms are intended to encompass different orientations of thedevice in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted inthe figures. For example, if the device in the figures is turned over,an element described as being “above” or “upper” relative to anotherelement will then be “below” or “lower” relative to the other element.Thus, the term “above” encompasses both the above and below orientationsdepending on the spatial orientation of the device. The device may alsobe oriented in other ways (for example, rotated 90 degrees or at otherorientations), and the spatially relative terms used herein are to beinterpreted accordingly.

The terminology used herein is for describing various examples only, andis not to be used to limit the disclosure. The articles “a,” “an,” and“the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless thecontext clearly indicates otherwise. The terms “comprises,” “includes,”and “has” specify the presence of stated features, numbers, operations,members, elements, and/or combinations thereof, but do not preclude thepresence or addition of one or more other features, numbers, operations,members, elements, and/or combinations thereof.

Due to manufacturing techniques and/or tolerances, variations of theshapes shown in the drawings may occur. Thus, the examples describedherein are not limited to the specific shapes shown in the drawings, butinclude changes in shape that occur during manufacturing.

The features of the examples described herein may be combined in variousways as will be apparent after an understanding of the disclosure ofthis application. Further, although the examples described herein have avariety of configurations, other configurations are possible as will beapparent after an understanding of the disclosure of this application.

Expressions such as “first conductivity type” and “second conductivitytype” as used herein may refer to opposite conductivity types such as Nand P conductivity types, and examples described herein using suchexpressions encompass complementary examples as well. For example, anexample in which a first conductivity type is N and a secondconductivity type is P encompasses an example in which the firstconductivity type is P and the second conductivity type is N.

Further, in describing the constituent elements of the presentdisclosure, the same reference numerals may be given to constituentelements having the same name, and the same reference numerals may begiven to different drawings. However, even in such a case, it does notmean that the corresponding components have different functionsaccording to the embodiments, or that they have the same functions indifferent embodiments, and the functions of the respective componentsshould be understood based on the description corresponding to eachcomponent of the embodiments.

There is a potential benefit for providing a method of forming asimplified contact, while at the same time reducing the cell pitch andwhile also operating the device stably in such a trench MOSFET device.

Examples seek to provide a simplified method of manufacturing a contactwhile at the same time reducing the cell pitch while operating the powersemiconductor device stably.

Examples simplify the manufacturing process because a contact recessetching is unnecessary. It is possible to form a source region and abody contact region which are alternately formed on the substratesurface. Also, since the substrate etching process is eliminated, thecell pitch may be reduced because the space is secured accordingly.

Further, examples include a Zener diode formed so that the device may bestably operated.

Further, examples also reduce the drain-source on-state resistance Rdsoncharacteristic while reducing the channel length. That is, starting fromthe upper surface of the substrate, it is possible to form a highlydoped source region so as to extend along the sidewalls of the trenchand overlap with the gate electrode.

FIG. 1A is a plan view of a power semiconductor device 500 according toan example.

The power semiconductor device according to the example of FIG. 1A has astructure including several hundred or more trench MOSFETs. The regionincluding such a trench MOSFET structure is referred to as an activecell region 450, which occupies the largest area of the powersemiconductor device 500 as shown in the example of FIG. 1A. In theactive cell region 450, there are a highly doped source region and ahighly doped body contact region, and also an emitter electrode or asource electrode 200 electrically connected to the source region. Thebody contact region is located over the active cell region 450.Additionally, a gate pad 300, electrically connected to the gateelectrode disposed in the trench MOSFET structure, is located at thelower corner. The source electrode 200 and the gate pad 300 are bothformed of a metal material and are formed apart from each other. Avariety of metal materials with appropriate conductive properties may beused to form the source electrode 200 and the gate pad 300.Additionally, the power semiconductor device 500 includes a Zener diode100. The Zener diode 100 is located between the source electrode 200 andthe gate pad 300. Additionally, the Zener diode 100 is interconnected asto surround the rim of the gate pad 300. Thus, the Zener diode 100 isformed in a form of two or three rings. The number of rings may varydepending on the breakdown voltage of the power semiconductor, so as tohave appropriate electrical properties for the structure in which theZener diode 100 is included.

FIG. 1B is an enlarged view of a portion 450A of the active cell region450 of the power semiconductor device shown in the example of FIG. 1A.

As illustrated in the example of FIG. 1B, the power semiconductor device500 according to an example includes trenches 40, highly doped sourceregions 80 having a first conductivity type N, and highly doped bodycontact region 90 having a second conductivity type P. The highly dopedsource regions 80 and the highly doped body contact regions 90 arecollectively referred to as active regions 80, 90. The active regions80, 90 are formed between the trenches 40, the width of which activeregions 80, 90 is greater than the width of the trenches 40 when viewedin the Y-Y direction. A larger width for the active regions 80, 90 isrequired because such a width is necessary to act as the passage throughwhich the electron or hole carriers move in the active regions 80, 90.

In the example of FIG. 1B, the source region 80 and the body contactregion 90 are formed alternately. For example, the highly doped bodycontact region 90 is formed by implanting ions of the secondconductivity type P at a high concentration next to the highly dopedsource region 80. Accordingly, highly doped body contact region 90 isformed alternately next to the highly doped source region 80. In thismanner, the highly doped source region 80 and the highly doped bodycontact region 90 are each formed in a repeated pattern structure, asexplained above. Thus, a ladder-like pattern structure is formed in thismanner, in which the highly doped source region 80 and the highly dopedbody contact region 90 are sequentially repeated.

A reason why the area of the source region 80 is much larger than thearea of the body contact region 90 is to allow more current to flow.Because electrons are mainly supplied through the source region 80, thearea is enlarged accordingly in order to permit the flow of more chargecarriers. The example of FIG. 1B only shows a part of the active cellregion corresponding to the example of FIG. 1A at 450. Such patterns arerepeated a number of times to form a complete trench MOSFET.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a power semiconductor deviceaccording to an example taken along the line II-II′ in FIG. 1B. FIG. 3is a drawing illustrating a structure of an operation of a powersemiconductor device with a trench MOSFET according to an example.

As illustrated in the example of FIG. 2 , a power semiconductor deviceaccording to an example includes a substrate 10, a drift region 30,trenches 40, a gate insulating layer 55, a gate electrode 50 ofconductive material, a lowly doped body region 70, a highly doped sourceregion 80, a highly doped source edge region 85, a highly doped bodycontact region 90, an insulating layer 60 and a source electrode 200 asshown in FIGS. 2-3 . In such an example, the power semiconductor devicepotentially further includes a gate pad 300 and a drain electrode 400,such as shown in FIG. 3 .

Subsequently, each component of the power semiconductor device accordingto the example of FIG. 2 is described in further detail.

In an example, the substrate 10 may be an epi-layer or a Si-substrate.However, these are only examples, and the substrate may include othermaterials in other examples. The drain region 20 is formed at the bottomside of the substrate 10. For example, the drain region 20 may be ahighly doped N-type drain region. Furthermore, an N-type drift region 30is formed on the substrate 10. In such an example, the drift region 30is an epi-layer deposited by an epitaxial method. Because the driftregion is required to withstand high voltages, an epi-layer doped with alower concentration than the drain region is used in the drift region.

In order to form a trench MOSFET structure, trenches 40 are formed onthe drift region 30. Additionally, an active region is formed betweenthe trenches 40. A gate insulating layer 55 and a gate electrode 50 areformed in the trenches 40. A conductive material such as polysilicon isdeposited on the gated insulating layer 55. This conductive material isetched back to form the gate electrode 50 in the trenches 40. Also, thegate electrode 50 is formed on the gate insulating layer 55.

The lowly doped P-type body region 70 is formed in the active region andserves as a channel region. Furthermore, the highly doped source region80 and the highly doped body contact region 90 are alternately formed onthe body region 70. In such an example, the highly doped source region80 further includes a highly doped source edge region 85. The highlydoped source edge region 85 starts from the active region and extendsalong the sidewall of the trenches 40. The highly doped source edgeregion 85 is formed to overlap with the gate electrode 50. In anexample, such a highly doped source region 80 has a first depth formedon the active region and a second depth formed along the sidewall of thetrenches. Also, in an example, the second depth is formed to be deeperthan the first depth of the highly doped source region 80.

The highly doped source edge region 85 is caused as a result of thepresence of trench slope. The deeper the trench depth, the more thetrench slope increases, such as from 85 to 89 degrees. As a result, thelower portion of the highly doped source region 80 is not flat, and isformed to be deeper due to the presence of the highly doped source edgeregion 85 at both ends. Thus, the channel length is reduced accordinglyso that the Rdson is reduced, where Rdson refers to the drain-source onresistance of the device, or the total resistance between the drain andthe source in the relevant MOSFET.

In the example of FIG. 3 , an insulating layer 60 is formed on the gateelectrode 50 to electrically isolate the gate electrode 50 from thesource electrode 200. The insulating layer 60, called Inter-LayerDielectric (ILD), may include a Borophosphosilicate Glass (BPSG) layerand a High-temperature Low-pressure Dielectric (HLD) oxide layer. Theinsulating layer 60 separates the gate electrode 50 and the sourceelectrode 200 from one another. However, these are only examples andother materials and structures may be used for the insulating layer 60,as appropriate.

The source electrode 200 is formed in the highly doped body contactregion 90 and the highly doped source region 80 by using a metalmaterial such as aluminum (Al), copper (Cu), titanium (Ti), or tungsten(W). However, these are only examples, and other metals with appropriateconductive properties are used in other examples.

Meanwhile, as illustrated in the example of FIG. 3 , a powersemiconductor device according to an example operates as an N-channeltrench MOSFET.

First, a Turn on operation is explained. In response to a positive (+)voltage being applied to the gate pad 300 during the turn-on operation,electrons accumulate on the side surface of the trenches 40. As aresult, a channel that is an inversion layer due to electrons beinggathered in the lowly doped body region 70 forms. At this time, when anegative (−) voltage is applied to the source electrode and a positive(+) voltage is applied to the drain electrode 400 as much as anoperating voltage, electrons injected through the source electrode passthrough the highly doped source region 80. Thus, the electrons arrive atthe drift region 30 through the channel of the lowly doped body region70, and then flow to the highly doped drain region 20.

By contrast, a Turn off operation is also explained further. In responseto a negative (−) voltage being applied to the gate pad 300 during theturn-off operation, the inverted channel disappears. Simultaneously, thecurrent due to the electrons is interrupted, and thus the device nolonger operates.

FIG. 4 is a drawing illustrating a method of manufacturing a powersemiconductor device according to an example. Also, FIGS. 5 to 8 aredrawings illustrating the cross-sectional views of a power semiconductordevice according to each process of the example of FIG. 4 .

As illustrated in the example of FIG. 4 , a method of manufacturing apower semiconductor device according to an example is performed inaccordance with steps S101 to S107 illustrated in the example of FIG. 4.

Hereinafter, referring to the examples of FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 to FIG. 8 ,a method of manufacturing a power semiconductor device, and a structureof such a power semiconductor device according to each process isdescribed further.

As illustrated in the example of FIG. 5 , step S101 forms a drift region30, a LOCal Oxidation of Silicon (LOCOS) type separating layer 11 andtrenches 40. First, a drift region 30 of the first conductivity type isformed on the substrate 10. Such an initial substrate thickness isformed to be very thin. However, a low concentration epi-layer isthickly deposited on the initial substrate to form a thick substrate 10including the drift region 30. The substrate may be formed by forming athick low concentration epi-payer 30 on the thin high concentrationepi-layer 20. Such a high concentration epi-layer may be used as a drainregion 20. In such an example, the thick low concentration epi-layer 30is used as a drift region.

Trenches 40 are formed on the drift region 30. In such an example, theslope of the trenches 40 is 85 to 90 degrees. Thus, trenches 40 having 1to 3 um depth are formed by using a dry etching process. At this time,when the trenches are formed, in order to control the depths of thelowly doped body region 70 and the highly doped source region 80, theepitaxial wafer is etched to maintain the slope of the trenches at 85 to89 degrees.

As illustrated in the example of FIG. 6 , in the step S102, a gateinsulating layer 55 is formed in the trenches 40. Also, a gateinsulating layer 55 is formed on the sidewall of the trenches by usingthermal oxidation. To form a device with a threshold voltageapproximately between 1.0 to 1.2 V, a thickness of 20 to 100 nm of thegate insulating layer 55 is required. Then, a conductive material usedto form the gate electrode 50 is deposited on the gate insulating layer55.

To form the gate electrode 50, a poly-silicon material is used. At thismoment, in such an example, to control the resistance of the electrode,a doped poly-silicon (doped poly-Si) or undoped poly-silicon (undopedpoly-Si) is selectively formed.

Meanwhile, the step S102 includes a method of forming a Zener diode byusing a poly-silicon material. A method of forming a Zener diode and astructure of such a Zener diode in a power semiconductor device isdescribed further in FIG. 9 to FIG. 10 .

Thereafter, in step S103, the conductive material used to form the gateelectrode 50 deposited on the gate insulating layer 55 is etched back toform the gate electrode 50 in the trenches 40. Accordingly, for theefficiency of the power semiconductor device, the upper surface of thegate electrode 50 is located to be higher than the half the depth of thetrenches 40.

In the present examples, 600 to 900 nm of height of a top portion ofpoly-Si is removed from the initially deposited polysilicon to leave 500to 1000 nm in height of the gate electrode. Accordingly, the breakdownvoltage, the channel depth, and the Ohmic contact value for the deviceare changed according to the height of the gate electrode. Therefore, inconsideration of these electrical characteristics of the powersemiconductor device, the height of the gate electrode is accordinglyoptimized.

As illustrated in the example FIG. 7 , in the step S104, a lowly dopedP-type body region 70 is formed on the active region.

After poly-Si etching, ion implantation on the substrate is performed toform a lowly doped body region 70. The dose and energy implanted to forma lowly doped body region 70 is adjusted according to thecharacteristics of the threshold voltage and Rdson.

Also, the step S105 selectively forms a highly doped source region 80 inthe body region 70. To selectively form such a highly doped sourceregion 80, an N+ mask pattern formed through such step as an N+ photostep is used. The process of forming the highly doped source region 80starts from a top surface of the active region, extends along thesidewall of the trench 40, and overlaps with the gate electrode 50. Insuch an example, the highly doped source region 80 is defined as havingthe first depth in the active region and the second depth along thesidewall of the trenches 40. For example, the second depth of the highlydoped source region 80 is formed to be deeper than the first depth.Accordingly, the highly doped source region 80 includes a first portionadjacent to the upper surface of the substrate 10 and a second portionadjacent to the sidewall of the trench 40. In an example, a depth of thesecond portion is a deeper depth than a depth of the first portion withrespect to an upper surface of the substrate 10.

Further, in the step S105, when a source region 80 of the firstconductivity type is formed, a N-type source region 80 is formed by ionimplantation in the P-type body region 70 in a direction perpendicularto the top surface of substrate 10, or by ion implantation in adirection tilted by a predetermined angle that will lead to appropriateelectrical characteristics as described further above.

The highly doped source region 80 is doped to extend in an elongatedmanner along the side surface of the trench 40 when the dopants areimplanted. Such a structure forms the highly doped source region 80 toextend to the inside of the lowly doped body region 70, thereby reducingthe channel length and reducing the threshold voltage. Also, suchstructure may reduce the Rdson characteristic. The body region 70shrinks further if the source region extends further along the sidewallof the trenches. Accordingly, the channel length is also reduced,because the body region 70 shrinks as well.

Also, the step S105 forms an insulating layer 60 so as to cover a gateelectrode 50, a highly doped source region 80, and a body contact region90. The insulating layer 60 includes a Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD)insulating layer. For example, such an insulating layer 60 may includeHLD and BPSG portions, as discussed further, above. In such an example,the CVD insulating layer serves to prevent the boron from the BPSGportion from penetrating into the gate electrode 50 during the BPSGdeposition to change the resistance. Therefore, a CVD insulating layerof the thickness about 50 to 200 nm is deposited, according to anexample.

As illustrated in the example of FIG. 8 , in the step S106, a firstcontact photo process and a contact etching process are performed toexpose the highly doped source region 80 and the body region 70. Theinsulating layer 60 is etched to open all of the active cell regions. Insuch contact etching, the contact etch process utilizes a Self-AlignContact (SAC) etch process that does not require a further mask pattern.Thus, in the contact etching process according to an example, the activearea is exposed even if only the first dry etching or the wet etching isperformed. The source region 80 and the body region 70 are accordinglyexposed at the same time. Such an approach does not require additionaletching processes.

Also, to selectively form a highly doped body contact region 90, asecond contact photo process step S106 is performed. Through the secondcontact photo process, a new mask pattern is formed. Also, a highlydoped body contact region 90 is formed by ion implantation of the dopantin the lowly doped body region 70 by using the new mask pattern. Thehighly doped source region 80 and the highly doped body contact region90 are alternately formed on such a lowly doped body region 70.Accordingly, a highly doped body contact region 90 is formed between thehighly doped source regions 80.

Thereinafter, the step S107 forms a source electrode 200 that iselectrically connected to the highly doped body contact region 90 andthe highly doped source region 80. For example, titanium nitride (TiN)and aluminum (Al) are deposited to form the source electrode 200.However, these are only examples and other materials with similarproperties may be deposited to form the source electrode.

A power semiconductor device is manufactured by depositing a tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) layer and a silicon nitride layer (SiN) to form apassivation layer. Such a passivation layer improves soft breakdownvoltage, and also blocks moisture penetration into the powersemiconductor device.

FIG. 9 is a drawing illustrating a structure of a Zener diode accordingto an example.

As illustrated in the example of FIG. 9 , the Zener diode 100 has astructure in which NPNP layering is repeated. The high concentration N+region 120 and the high concentration P+ region 110 are repeatedlyformed. In the example of FIG. 9 , the Zener diode 100 is formed bydoping P type impurities and then implanting the N type impurities 120through an ESD mask pattern 115 shown in FIG. 10 .

The Zener diode 100 has a PN junction structure similar to a diode ingeneral. However, a Zener diode 100 has a very low and constantbreakdown voltage characteristics and current flows when a certainbreakdown voltage or more is applied in the reverse direction.Accordingly, such a Zener breakdown phenomenon and an electron avalanchebreakdown phenomenon are used as advantageous features. When the appliedvoltage is less than 5.6V, the Zener breakdown becomes the maincharacteristic, and above that, the electron avalanche breakdownphenomenon becomes the main characteristic. The Zener diode 100 is usedfor a purpose of protecting a circuit device from an overvoltage thatwould otherwise potentially cause damage. Namely, when ElectrostaticDischarge (ESD) stress having high voltage or currents flows, suchoperation is required for the protection of the device.

FIG. 10 is a drawing illustrating a method of manufacturing a Zenerdiode according to an example.

As illustrated in part (a) of FIG. 10 , a thick oxide layer LOCOS 11 isformed on the substrate 10, and a conductive material used to form thegate electrode 50 such as polysilicon or metal is deposited above thethick oxide layer LOCOS 11. Polysilicon is an example of a conductivematerial in such an example. Polysilicon, which may be the conductivematerial used to form the gate electrode 50, is simultaneously depositedinside the trenches of the active cell region 450 as well. Therefore,the poly-Si used for the Zener diode 100 and the poly-Si used for thetrench MOSFET are electrically connected with each other. However, evenif an ESD stress is introduced, the ESD stress is designed to be cut offby the Zener diode 100 and to flow out to the source electrode 200without introducing stress into the gate electrode 50 itself in thetrenches 40. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the gate insulatinglayer 55 from being broken by such an ESD event. For example, the secondconductivity type P ions are injected into the polysilicon used to formthe gate electrode 50. Therefore, it is transformed into the polysilicon110 doped by P+. Then, an ESD mask pattern 115 is formed on the P+polysilicon 110. As illustrated in part (b) of FIG. 10 , the first typeN ions are injected into the P+ polysilicon 110. As illustrated in part(c) of FIG. 10 , the P+ polysilicon 110 under the ESD mask pattern 115is protected by the mask pattern and the remaining portion is changed topolysilicon 120 doped with N+.

FIG. 11 is a circuit diagram of a power semiconductor device including aZener diode according to an example.

The power semiconductor chip 700 according to the example of FIG. 11 iscomposed of first and second power semiconductor elements 500, 600.Source electrodes S1 and S2, drain electrodes D1 and D2, and gateelectrodes G1 and G2 are present in each of the power semiconductordevices 500, 600. The gate electrodes G1 and G2 are separated from eachother, but the drain electrodes D1 and D2 are connected to each other.Also, the Zener diode 100 is arranged between the gate electrode G1 andthe source electrode S1. In the example of FIG. 11 , the gate electrodesG1, G2 may be seen as being a gate pad 300. The Zener diode 100 iselectrically connected to the gate pad 300 and the source electrode 200.Therefore, when ESD stress flows into the gate pads G1, G2, due to theoperation of the Zener diode 100, the stress is not introduced in thegate electrode 50 of the trench but is instead designed to discharge tothe source electrodes S1, S2, 300. In this way, the internal circuit,namely, the trench MOSFET, is protected.

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view of a power semiconductor deviceincluding a Zener diode according to an example taken along the lineXII-XII′ of FIG. 1A.

As illustrated in the example of FIG. 12 , the power semiconductordevice 500 includes a drain region 20, an N-epitaxial layer 30, a P bodyregion 70, a gate electrode 50, and insulating layer 60, N+ sourceregions 80, 85 that are alternately formed, and a P+ body contact region90.

Also, as explained further above, the power semiconductor device 500includes a Zener diode 100. The Zener diode 100 is electrically andphysically connected to the gate pad 300 and the source electrode 200.

While this disclosure includes specific examples, it will be apparentafter an understanding of the disclosure of this application thatvarious changes in form and details may be made in these exampleswithout departing from the spirit and scope of the claims and theirequivalents. The examples described herein are to be considered in adescriptive sense only, and not for purposes of limitation. Descriptionsof features or aspects in each example are to be considered as beingapplicable to similar features or aspects in other examples. Suitableresults may be achieved if the described techniques are performed in adifferent order, and/or if components in a described system,architecture, device, or circuit are combined in a different manner,and/or replaced or supplemented by other components or theirequivalents. Therefore, the scope of the disclosure is defined not bythe detailed description, but by the claims and their equivalents, andall variations within the scope of the claims and their equivalents areto be construed as being included in the disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for manufacturing a power semiconductordevice, the method comprising: forming a drift region of a firstconductivity type in a substrate; forming a trench in the drift region;forming a gate insulating layer in the trench; depositing a conductivematerial on the substrate; forming a gate electrode in the trench;forming a body region in the substrate; forming a highly doped sourceregion in a first portion of the body region by implanting a dopant ofthe first conductivity type into the first portion of the body region;forming an insulating layer that covers the gate electrode; etching theinsulating layer to open the body region; forming a highly doped bodycontact region in a second portion adjacent to the first portion of thebody region by implanting a dopant of a second conductivity type intothe second portion of the body region, wherein only one of the highlydoped source and body contact regions is disposed between adjacenttrenches in each portion of the body region, and the highly doped sourceand body contact regions are formed alternately in a longitudinaldirection of the trench; and forming a source electrode on the highlydoped body contact region and the highly doped source region, whereinthe highly doped source region comprises a first region formed on anupper surface of the body region and having a flat bottom surface, and asecond region formed along a sidewall of the trench and having aninclined bottom surface overlapping the gate electrode.
 2. The methodfor manufacturing a power semiconductor device of claim 1, wherein eachhighly doped source and body contact region has a same width, and alength of the highly doped source region disposed between highly dopedbody contact regions is greater than a length of the highly doped bodycontact region disposed between highly doped source regions, and whereina top surface of the gate electrode is located at a position higher thanhalf the depth of the trench.
 3. The method for manufacturing a powersemiconductor device of claim 1, wherein a depth of the second region isgreater than a depth of the first region relative to an upper surface ofthe substrate.
 4. The method for manufacturing a power semiconductordevice of claim 1, wherein the depositing of the conductive materialcomprises depositing the conductive material on the gate insulatinglayer and a portion of the substrate, and wherein the method furthercomprises forming a Zener diode in the conductive material deposited onthe portion of the substrate.
 5. The method for manufacturing a powersemiconductor device of claim 4, wherein the forming of the Zener diodecomprises: implanting second conductivity type ions into the conductivematerial; forming a mask pattern on the conductive material; implantingfirst conductivity type ions into the conductive material through themask pattern; and removing the mask pattern.
 6. The method formanufacturing a power semiconductor device of claim 4, furthercomprising forming a thick oxide layer on the portion of the substrate,wherein the depositing of the conductive material comprises depositingthe conductive material on the gate insulating layer and the thick oxidelayer, and wherein the forming of the Zener diode comprises forming theZener diode in the conductive material deposited on the thick oxidelayer.
 7. The method for manufacturing a power semiconductor device ofclaim 4, further comprising forming a gate pad connected to the gateelectrode, wherein the Zener diode is connected to the gate pad and thesource electrode, respectively.
 8. The method for manufacturing a powersemiconductor device of claim 4, wherein the Zener diode comprises aplurality of rings depending on a breakdown voltage of the powersemiconductor device.
 9. The method for manufacturing a powersemiconductor device of claim 1, wherein the substrate comprises a drainregion, and wherein the drift region is an epi-layer doped with a lowerconcentration than the drain region.
 10. The method for manufacturing apower semiconductor device of claim 1, wherein an area of the highlydoped source region is larger than an area of the highly doped bodycontact region.